Conversation Hearts
by iloveromance
Summary: The anticipation of calling Zelda Gilroy has Dobie floating on air, but when the moment finally arrives, his one chance to prove himself may be lost forever. (Episode:"This Town Ain't Big Enough For Me And Robert Browning"). Written for LoisAndClarkSuperfan.


_**A/N: I wrote this on a whim as a gift for LoisAndClarkSuperfan for her friendship and support. Think of it as an AU continuation of the last scene in the episode "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Me and Robert Browning". **_

As I laid my head on my pillow, sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. Instead my thoughts drifted back to earlier that afternoon when my life had changed right before my eyes. And I owe it all to Robert Browning. If it weren't for him, well… Perhaps you should be the judge.

As fate would have it, Zelda and I found ourselves alone at lunchtime, sitting next to one another at a picnic table. Something had happened to me when I had discovered the words of Robert Browning; a revelation, and I realized that I couldn't waste another minute. I turned to her and in an effort to prove myself to be a true romantic, took her hands in min and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Look Zelda, I know I'm not worthy of you." I said as poetically as possible. "But I'm going after you anyway, because as Robert Browning once said; _A man's reach should exceed his grasp_."

My words seemed to surprise her, which is understandable, since they surprised me as well. But I meant them wholeheartedly.

"You're going to chase me?"

"Yes."

"But it's no use, Dobie! Can't you see that?"

"I don't care!" I said adamantly. "I've got to try."

"You mean you'll send me flowers? Candy? Open doors for me?"

Unable to stop myself, I smiled and touched her cheek. "Of course Zelda. I'll do all those things and more. Can I call you?"

She blushed and I saw the beginning of a smile. "If you like."

I couldn't help returning her smile. "Okay, I'll phone you tonight."

When the bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch, I felt my heart sink, for I hated to leave her. It seems funny now because it wasn't that long ago that I wanted Zelda Gilroy as far away from me as possible.

"So long Dobie." I heard her say. And then I reached into my pocket, gasping inaudibly when I realized that something was wrong.

"One more thing, Zelda. Can you lend me a dime for the phone?"

Boy what a rotten thing to ask a girl, huh? Telling her that you'll call her and then having the nerve to make her pay for it! But what could I do? I was flat broke and I couldn't ask my father for any more money. And to my surprise she smiled, reaching into the pocket of her skirt. Dutifully I held out my hand where she placed a bright shiny dime.

"Thanks Zelda." I said, feeling strangely nervous around this girl who had driven me crazy on more than one occasion.

The rest of the day was a complete blur, as I felt myself practically floating on air. I could hardly wait to get home, because come nightfall, something truly wonderful was about to happen.

When I finally did arrive home, I ate dinner in record time; a feat that surprised my parents. After staring at me all through dinner Dad took a bite of his Salisbury steak and threw down his fork in disgust.

"Herbert, what has gotten into you?" Mom asked.

"What's gotten into me?" Dad shouted. "Something's going on around here, Winnie! And I don't like it one bit!"

"But I thought you loved my cooking!"

"Well, sure I do, but that's not what I'm talking about! I'm talking about him!" Dad said, pointing directly at me.

"Why are you blaming Dobie?" Mom asked. "He's just been sitting there enjoying his dinner! Look, he's even cleaned his plate!"

"Well of course, Mom." I said, wiping my face with my napkin. "It's my favorite dish! Why shouldn't I clean my plate?"

"See, Herbert? There's nothing to be concerned about!" Mom said.

But of course, Dad was unconvinced. "Nothing to be concerned about? There's _everything_ to be concerned about! Look at him, will ya? His head is in the clouds, and he comes to the dinner table and shoves food in his mouth like a human garbage truck! If only he worked like he ate-."

"Dad, it's nothing, really." I interjected. It was a lie of course, but if it got him to stop yelling, even for a minute, then I figured it was okay.

"The heck it's nothing!" Dad replied. Or rather-_yelled_. "This is about a girl isn't it?"

I couldn't help but smile.

"Ah ha!" Dad shouted. "I _knew_ it!"

Trying to ignore him, I looked at my watch. And then to my parent's disbelief, I rose from the table and picked up my plate.

"Finished already dear? Don't you want seconds?" Mom asked.

I leaned to kiss her cheek. "It was wonderful Mom. Thanks for dinner but I'm stuffed." As I expected, Mom was surprised at my compliments. "Why thank you Dobie, that's very sweet of you to say."

"Well, I'll see you later, Mom." I said as casually as possible.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Dad demanded.

I reached into my pocket and rubbed the rigged dime between my fingers; a gesture that I'd been performing all day.

"Well, are you going to answer me or not?" Dad asked. Boy, he was really in a mood tonight! But I felt obligated to answer him because if I didn't there was no telling what he might do.

"I have a date, Dad." I said simply.

"A date? At this hour? On a school night?"

"Don't worry Dad. I won't be gone long." I reassured him; or tried to anyway. "But first, there's something I should take care of."

"Ha!" Dad scoffed. "There are a lot of things you should take care of, Dobie! There's a whole stockroom of things-."

Mom's hand on his forearm silenced him, for a minute anyway.

"Herbert-."

Wordlessly I picked up the empty dishes and brought them to the sink. And then as Mom and Dad looked on in astonishment, I filled the sink with hot soapy water and carefully submerged all of the dinner dishes. "Don't worry about those dishes Mom. I'll take care of them after I come back from my date."

"Okay, Dear." Mom said hesitantly.

And as I kissed her cheek, I saw her look worriedly at my dad. "Goodnight, Mom, Dad. Don't wait up."

Dad was still grumbling as I slipped out the door and down the stairs. I entered the store and passed right through it. I was on a mission and I wasn't going to stop until I reached my destination. And before I knew it, I'd arrived; at the telephone booth on the corner of Maple and Howe.

The closer I came to the telephone booth, the more nervous I grew. But why should I be nervous?

I've talked to Zelda on the phone before; hundreds of times! Mostly to either fend her off or discuss something school-related but in my book those counted as phone calls.

However things were different now and she was no longer the girl who annoyed me to no end. Zelda and I were… well I don't know what we were but the reality that in only a few minutes I'd be talking to her on the phone was almost unbelievable.

A glance at my watch told me that it was getting late and I hated to think of Zelda sitting by herself waiting for a phone call that she was sure would never come. I couldn't let that happen, I just couldn't. And with all the strength and courage I could muster, I headed straight for the phone booth. Once I was safely inside, I closed the door.

Now you may be wondering why in the heck I went all the way down three blocks in the middle of the night to make a phone call when there is a perfectly good phone in our home. Well, two actually; one in our apartment and the other in the store.

But do you think a guy can get privacy in a grocery store for Pete's sake? My dad was bound to come downstairs for one reason or another and there was no telling what he'd do. And forget about the phone in our apartment. That was even worse!

For a guy who's practically an expert at calling girls my hand was shaking like a leaf. And after three times (and even more apologizes to the people I'd woken up in the middle of the night), I finally managed to dial the right number. It only rang twice before someone answered; Her father of all people!

"_Hello?"_

"Um… Hello." I said, suddenly feeling small. "May I please speak to Zelda?"

_"Who's calling please?"  
_

"M-my name is Dobie Gillis. I'm a friend… from school."

_"Dobie Gillis, huh? Zelda never mentioned-."  
_

_"Dad, please!"_ I heard Zelda's faint voice from the background. After a few muffled words and some rustling, she was suddenly on the phone.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi Zelda. I-I'm sorry it took me so long to call you." I stammered.

_"Well actually I was beginning to wonder if you were going to call at all."_ She said. _"Most boys say they'll call but they never do." _

"Well I'm not like other boys, Zelda!" I snapped. I didn't mean to get so mad, but I didn't want her feeling sorry for herself on account of me.

"_I-I know."_ She said, sounding strangely timid. _"And I'm glad about that. I mean…"_

There was a long silence between us and for the first time I was truly at a loss for words. This wasn't right! Zelda had been waiting a long time for this phone call and what did I do? I left her hanging! Why, it was almost as though I hadn't intended on calling her at all!

"Look Zelda, I'm sorry about this. I know we've talked on the phone before but that was different! Things are different now and well… you were looking forward to my calling you. I couldn't wait to come home and call you. I ran it over and over in my head, what I was going to say but-."

_"But what?"_

I sighed deeply. "Now I can't think of a single thing." The admission hurt like nothing I'd ever felt. If there was something worse than humiliation, I'd just discovered it.

_"We could talk about school."_ She finally suggested.

That was the worst idea I'd ever heard, but I decided to go along with it. "Well, all right. What did you want to talk about?"

"_Have you finished your homework?"_

"Oh for Pete's sake, Zelda I don't want to talk about homework!" I yelled, wondering why I kept losing my temper and feeling more and more confident about my decision to call her three blocks from my home.

_"What do you want to talk about? If you don't want to talk about school, that is."_ Zelda asked.

"Well, lots of things." I said. "I want to know all about you, Zelda Gilroy. Your favorite color, your favorite ice cream, your favorite book, television show-."

_"ZELDA!"_

I stopped suddenly when I heard her father's booming voice in the background. The fact that he was yelling so loud could only mean one thing. I was all too familiar with angry parents. Well this was just great. In the course of only a few minutes, I'd managed to ruin everything.

"_Yes Dad?"_ She said, turning her mouth away from the receiver.

"_You've been on that phone for far too long! Now tell Robbie goodnight!"_

_"It's _Dobie_, Dad."_ She corrected_. "Dobie Gillis."  
_

The fact that she went to so much trouble to make sure that her father knew my name made me smile.

"_Zelda-."_

_"I'm sorry, Dobie. I have to go."  
_

"No, I'm the one who's sorry." I admitted. "I ruined your phone call and I feel like a real-."

_"Zelda, now!"  
_

_"It's not your fault."_ She said quietly, surprising me with her words. And then she said_ "I'm glad you called."_

_"ZELDA! I'm not going to tell you again!"_

"You'd better go." I said, breathing a sigh of frustration.

A pause followed before she spoke again. _"Well, goodnight, Dobie. I'll see you at school. Goodbye."_

"Zelda, wait!" I interrupted. I knew I was on thin ice, risking further punishment from her father. But I had to say one more thing.

_"Yes?"_ She said, almost whispering the word.

"Can I take you to Charlie Wong's Ice Cream Parlor after school tomorrow?"

_"I'd like that, Dobie. Goodnight."_

I was still holding onto the receiver in my hand when I realized that I was listening to the dial tone. And even as I returned the receiver, I was in a daze. In what could only be called a symbolic gesture, the dime I'd so carefully placed in the slot made a clinking sound as it fell, signaling that my much anticipated and badly rehearsed phone call was over.

With a sigh I left the phone booth and walked back to my father's store. And the tinkling bell above the doorway made me even more depressed.

"Dobie! You're back from your date already?" Mom asked when she saw me standing on the stairs.  
"She couldn't stay long." I said glumly. It wasn't a lie but it hadn't gone at all like I'd planned.

"So… how'd your date go?" Dad asked, appearing next to my mother.

"Not well Dad. Not at all."

"Can I ask you one more question?"

"Sure Dad. Anything." I said.

"What is so darn special about this girl that you had to go running off in the middle of the night, on a school night?"

I smiled, thinking of Zelda. There were so many ways to answer his question, but I got the feeling that he didn't really want an answer. So instead I asked him one.

"Dad, do you remember the first time you called Mom? How happy you were? How you could hardly sit still in school because you knew you were going to run home and call her? You couldn't eat or sleep for thinking about her? And the anticipation of hearing her voice was killing you?"

Dad put his arm around Mom and smiled. "I certainly do, Son. I remember that day like it was yesterday."

"Well, that's exactly how I feel about this girl."

"Wow, this girl must be pretty darn special to compare her to your mother."

Mom hugged Dad tightly and leaned against him. "Oh Herbert, that's lovely."

"Thank you Winnie. And Dobie, I want to meet this girl so be sure and bring her around, okay?"

"Sure Dad." I said, smiling to myself. Mom and Dad had met Zelda lots of times. But for now I decided it was best to keep her identity a secret.

But there was one thing that was bothering me.

"Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Sure son."

"It gets easier, doesn't it? Calling a girl?"

Dad looked at Mom and smiled. "It sure does."

My heart leapt in my chest as I said goodnight and headed to my room. A short time later as I leaned against my nightstand to turn off my light, I smiled. If I called Zelda every night, our conversations were bound to get even better and better.

THE END


End file.
